Written Answers Friday 25 April 2008

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any targets have been set for the detection and prosecution of offences as a result of the introduction of test purchasing of alcohol.

Shona Robison: Alcohol test purchasing operations are intelligence led and thus no targets have been set for the detection or prosecution of offenders following the introduction of test purchasing of alcohol.

Ambulance Service

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks there have been on Scottish Ambulance Service staff in each year since 1999, also broken down by ambulance service division.

Shona Robison: The following table details the numbers of incidents of violence and aggression towards Scottish Ambulance Service staff since 2004 when formal guidance issued to staff about the need to report such incidents.

  

 
 2004
 2005
 2006
 2007
 2008


 East Central
 14
 37
 46
 22
 4


 North East
 18
 39
 28
 44
 8


 North West
 1
 9
 8
 7
 2


 South East
 26
 50
 37
 16
 4


 South West
 6
 17
 23
 15
 2


 West Central
 32
 110
 140
 145
 16


 Other (including Special Operations Response Team)
 1
 4
 21
 4
 0


 Scotland
 98
 266
 303
 253
 36



  Note: Information provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Cancer

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths there have been from cervical cancer in the NHS Tayside area in each of the last three years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The numbers of deaths from cervical cancer which occurred in the NHS Tayside area were as follows:

  2005: 8

  2006: 10

  2007: 7.

  The figure for 2007 is provisional. The final figure will not be published formally until after the appearance of Scotland’s Population 2007 (the Registrar General’s Annual Review of Demographic Trends), which is scheduled for August 2008. However, past experience suggests that the figure is unlikely to change much.

Diabetes

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines exist to determine who is eligible for an insulin pump funded by the NHS.

Shona Robison: Eligibility is determined by reference to Health Technology Appraisal 57, Guidance on the use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion for the treatment of diabetes , issued by the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in 2003. Those who do not fulfil the NICE criteria are considered on an individual basis.

  NICE is currently consulting on the terms of a multiple technology appraisal of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion, and this represents a review of its Appraisal Guidance No. 57.

Diabetes

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children are currently receiving injection therapy for diabetes.

Shona Robison: According to the monitoring undertaken by the diabetes Managed Clinical Networks on behalf of the Scottish Diabetes Group, 1,763 children in Scotland with type 1 diabetes currently receive injection therapy.

Diabetes

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children are currently being treated for diabetes with an insulin pump.

Shona Robison: According to the monitoring undertaken by the diabetes Managed Clinical Networks on behalf of the Scottish Diabetes Group, 63 children in Scotland with type 1 diabetes are currently receiving insulin pump therapy.

Diabetes

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what statistics exist to determine whether injection therapy or insulin pumps are more effective in treating diabetic children.

Shona Robison: It is a question of determining, in each case, the insulin regime best suited to the individual’s circumstances. Children with type 1 diabetes should be considered for insulin pump therapy as a treatment modality, bearing in mind the criteria set out in the NICE Health Technology Appraisal No. 57, Guidance on the use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion for the treatment of diabetes , issued by the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in 2003. This guidance is currently under revision.

Diabetes

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is currently available for diabetes treatment.

Shona Robison: The information is not collected centrally, but the Executive Summary of the National Overview Follow-up Report on performance against diabetes standards, published by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland the Diabetes UK Scotland in March 2008 suggests that treating diabetes and its complications uses about 10% of the total NHSScotland budget every year, which would amount to £1 billion.

Drug Misuse

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people aged (a) under 15, (b) 15 to 18, (c) 19 to 21 and (d) over 21 were admitted to hospitals in the Lothians to receive treatment for drug misuse in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05, (iii) 2005-06, (d) 2006-07 and (v) 2007-08.

Shona Robison: Table 1 shows the number of patients discharged from NHS general acute hospitals with a drug-related diagnosis (in any position) from 2003-04 to 2006-07 in Lothian NHS board area. Information for 2007-08 is not yet available.

  Table 2 shows the number of patients discharged from NHS psychiatric units and mental illness hospitals with a drug-related diagnosis (in any position) from 2003-04 to 2005-06, in Lothian NHS board area. Information for 2006-07 and 2007-08 is not yet available.

  Table 1: Patients Discharged from General Acute Hospitals1 with a Diagnosis of Drug Misuse2,3 in Any Position by Age Group4: Lothian NHS Board of Treatment 2003-04 to 2006-07P

  

 
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07P


 Under 15 Years
 2
 5
 6
 7


 15-18 Years
 38
 38
 42
 43


 19-21 Years
 64
 56
 66
 59


 Over 21 Years
 456
 510
 560
 622



  Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01).

  PProvisional.

  Notes:

  1. Excludes mental illness hospitals, psychiatric units, maternity hospitals and transfers

  2. Excludes misuse of tobacco or alcohol.

  3. Diseases recorded using the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10).

  4. Age on admission.

  Table 2: Patients Discharged from Psychiatric Hospitals1 with a Diagnosis of Drug Misuse2,3 in any Position by Age Group4: Lothian NHS Board of Treatment 2003-04 to 2005-06P

  

 
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06P


 Under 15 Years
 -
 -
 -


 15-18 Years
 5
 8
 15


 19-21 Years
 21
 12
 12


 Over 21 Years
 186
 211
 161



  Source: ISD Scotland (SMR04).

  PProvisional.

  Notes:

  1. Excludes acute and maternity hospitals.

  2. Excludes misuse of tobacco or alcohol.

  3. Diseases recorded using the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD10).

  4. Age on admission.

  - = zero.

Health

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been diagnosed with Korsakov’s syndrome in each year since 1999, broken down (a) into ages (i) 6 and under, (ii) 7 to 10, (iii) 11 to 13, (iv) 14 to 17, (v) 18 to 24, (vi) 25 to 30, (vii) 31 to 39, (viii) 40 to 49, (ix) 50 to 59, (x) 60 to 69, (xi) 70 to 79, (xii) 80 to 85 and (xiii) 85 and over and (b) by NHS board area.

Shona Robison: Information on the number of people diagnosed with Korsakov’s syndrome during an inpatient stay at an acute, general or psychiatric hospital can be derived from national data returns. A copy of this information broken down by NHS board of residence and age group for the financial years 1998-99 to 2005-06 has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 45406).

Health

Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the annual cost to (a) the Scottish economy and (b) NHS Scotland of (i) alcohol misuse, (ii) smoking and (iii) illicit drug use and what the results were of any such assessments.

Shona Robison: The most recent assessment of the cost of alcohol misuse in Scotland comes from work carried out in 2004-05 by the Scottish Executive. They estimated the cost to society of alcohol misuse in 2002-03 as being in the region of £1.1 billion. This assessment updated the costs and methodology developed in the 2001 Scottish Executive report Cost of Alcohol Misuse in Scotland Trends and Costs . The 2001 report estimated the cost of alcohol misuse to be £1 billion.

  The Scottish Government is currently updating these earlier estimates. It is anticipated that the full updated estimates will be published soon. A copy will be sent to the member on publication.

  The most recent assessment of the cost of smoking to the economy and the NHS was published in a report commissioned by the Scottish Executive, Reducing Smoking and Tobacco-Related Harm (2003). It is estimated that the annual cost of smoking-related time off work in Scotland is £40 million and total productivity losses are put at £450 million. Smoking is estimated to cost NHS Scotland £200 million a year in hospital care. There has been no assessment of the costs of smoking to primary care services.

  Robust estimates of the economic and social impacts of illicit drugs in Scotland are not currently available, but based on research from England and Wales the total costs to society are likely to amount to around £2.6 billion per annum. A research project is currently in progress to produce an initial estimate of the size and value of illicit drug markets in Scotland, and of the economic and social costs associated with illicit drug use. The research will also consider the value of extending the estimates to cover alcohol abuse and tobacco consumption, and is due to be completed later this year.

Health

Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it (a) has spent in each year since 2005-06 and (b) will spend in each of the next three years in tackling (i) alcohol misuse, (ii) smoking and (iii) illicit drug use.

Shona Robison: There is a wide range of publicly funded activity to tackle alcohol misuse, smoking and illicit drug use and it is not known centrally how much in total is spent on such activities. The following table shows specifically identifiable spend by the Scottish Government in each year since 2005-06 and in each of the next three years in tackling alcohol misuse, smoking and illicit drug use.

  

 
2005-06
(£ Million)
2006-07
(£ Million)
2007-08
(£ Million)
2008-09
(£ Million)
2009-10
(£ Million)
2010-11
(£ Million)


 Smoking
 8.0
 10.0
 11.5
 14.0
 14.0
 14.0


 Alcohol Misuse
 12.1
 12.1
 12.4
 30.4
 43.4
 48.4


 Illicit drug use
 31.2
 31.3
 31.7
 29.5
 32.0
 32.8



  Notes:

  This table does not include £2 million per annum for tackling smoking, which is now part of NHS boards’ unified budgets; NRT prescribing (costs approx £7 million per annum) or NHS Health Scotland’s tobacco programme budget (approx £1 million per annum).

  From 2008-09 the budget for enforcing smoke-free (£2.5 million in 2007-08) is provided by means of a block grant.

  The alcohol misuse funding within this table is that made specifically available for this purpose by the Scottish Government. Significant additional resources are likely to have been made available by NHS boards and local authorities.

  The 2007-08 figure for tackling illicit drug use is not directly comparable with 2008-09. In addition to the funding available for tackling drug misuse in the Justice portfolio, a number of other budgets also provide resources for tackling drug misuse including local government, the police and NHS boards’ unified budgets.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date it intends to publish a new eHealth strategy as stated on page 62 of Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan .

Nicola Sturgeon: It is anticipated that the new eHealth strategy will be published before the end of June 2008.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in developing a new eHealth strategy and which (a) organisations and (b) individuals have been consulted.

Nicola Sturgeon: The eHealth strategy has reached the stage of a final draft with NHS boards and other stakeholders for comment. Organisations consulted mainly comprise NHS boards, and the principal individuals consulted are those listed in the answer to question S3W-11189 on 14 April 2008. In addition, a workshop is being scheduled for patients and organisations who represent patient interests related to long-term conditions.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the goals will be of a new eHealth strategy.

Nicola Sturgeon: The main goal of the new eHealth strategy will be to support the aims of Better Health Better Care . While the strategy is not yet finalised, two key areas on which eHealth’s contribution are likely to focus are reducing waiting times to 18 weeks and integration across patient journeys.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive who the (a) members of the national eHealth programme board, (b) members of the national eHealth strategy board and (c) NHS board eHealth leads are.

Nicola Sturgeon: The members of the national eHealth programme board are:

  

 Paul Rhodes
 eHealth Programme Director (Chair) SGHD


 Robin Wright
 Chair eHealth Leads group, NHS Lanarkshire


 Liz MacDonald
 Scottish Consumer Council


 Hazel Robertson
 Director of Finance, State Hospital


 Jonathan Pryce
 Head of Primary Care Division, SGHD


 Joe Welsh
 Health Finance


 Scott Haldane
 Director of Finance – NHS National Services Scotland (NSS)


 David Hastie
 Capital Investment Group (CIG), Scottish Government


 Martin Egan
 Co-chair eHealth Leads group, NHS Lothian


 Tony Wells
 Chief Executive, NHS Tayside


 Prof. Peter Donnelly
 Deputy Chief Medical Officer, SGHD


 Stephen Robinson
 Scottish Partnership Forum


 Linda Rosborough
 Head of Transformational Technologies, SG


 Clinical Care Leadership Group
 Vacancy



  The members of the national eHealth strategy board are:

  

 Dr Kevin Woods
 Chief Executive NHS Scotland and Director General Health (Chair)


 Derek Feeley
 Director of Healthcare Policy & Strategy, Scottish Government Health Directorates(SGHD)


 Dr Harry Burns
 Chief Medical Officer, SGHD


 Professor Andrew Morris
 Tayside Centre for Clinical Technology


 Paul Martin
 Chief Nursing Officer, SGHD 


 Robert Calderwood
 Acute Division Chief Operating Officer, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 


 John Connaghan
 Director of Delivery, SGHD


 Paul Gray
 Director of Change and Corporate Services, SGHD


 Ian Crichton
 Chief Executive, NHS National Services Scotland


 Paul Rhodes
 eHealth Programme Director, SGHD


 Richard Copland
 Head of Health Information Technology, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde


 Gillian Smith
 Acting Director Royal College of Midwives - Scottish


 
 Partnership Forum representative


 George Crooks
 Chief Executive, NHS 24


 Alex Smith
 Interim Director of Finance, SGHD


 Jane Davidson
 Head of Finance, SGHD


 Professor Tony Wells
 Chief Executive, NHS Tayside



  The members of the NHS board eHealth leads are:

  

 Robin Wright
 General Manager – Information Management and Technology (IM&T), NHS Lanarkshire (Chair)


 Alan Hyslop
 Head of Strategy, SGHD


 Andrew Dodd
 Head of NSS IM&T, NHS National Services Scotland


 Bill Reid
 Head of eHealth Affairs, NHS Highland


 Dave Simpson
 Head of eHealth, NHS Forth Valley


 Denise Brown
 Head of eHealth, NHS Ayrshire and Arran


 Donald Wilson
 Acting Head of IT Services, NHS Fife


 Dr Ann Wales
 Programme Director, NHS Education for Scotland


 Graham Gault
 Head of eHealth,NHS Dumfries and Galloway


 Alan Blackburn
 Interim Head of IM&T, State Hospital


 Iain Hunter
 General Manager, Scottish Centre for Telehealth


 Ian Fenton
 Associate Director of Finance - Health Informatics NHS Tayside, 


 Ian Shanley
 Communications & IT Manager, Scottish Ambulance Service


 Jackie Stephen
 Head of IM&T, NHS Borders


 John Wright
 Director of Knowledge Management & eHealth, NHS Ayrshire &Arran, 


 Jon Harris 
 IT Manager, Western Isles Hospital


 Kinley McDonald
 Head of IM&T, NHS Grampian


 Martin Egan
 Director of eHealth, NHS Lothian Road West


 Paul Rhodes
 eHealth Programme Director, SGHD


 Pauline Fyfe
 Head of IT, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland 


 Richard Copland
 Director of eHealth Information & Technology, Greater Glasgow and Clyde


 Roella Wilson
 Information Management Services Manager, NHS Orkney 


 Ron Anderson
 Interim Director IM&T, NSS, NHS 


 Stuart Hubbard
 Computer Services Manager, NHS Shetland, 


 Thomas Buchendorfer
 Enterprise Architect, NHS24, 


 William Edwards
 Head of eHealth, Golden Jubilee National Hospital,



  In addition to the above groups, the eHealth clinical leads are organised as the clinical change leadership group and provide advice on the clinical aspects of eHealth initiatives. The membership of that group is as follows:

  

 Prof. Peter Donnelly
 Deputy Chief Medical Officer (Chair)


 Dr Peter Curry
 NHS Fife


 Dr Nick Sutcliffe
 Golden Jubilee National Hospital 


 Dr Chris Stewart
 NHS 24


 Margaret Hastings
 NHS Argyll and Clyde


 Dr James Campbell
 NHS Ayrshire and Arran


 Michele Caldwell
 NHS Ayrshire and Arran


 Dr Elaine Taylor
 NHS Borders


 Dr Gordon Sim
 NHS Borders


 Dr Hamish McRitchie
 NHS Borders


 Dr Neil Kelly
 NHS Dumfries and Galloway


 Dr Stella Clark
 NHS Fife


 Dr Gareth Davies
 NHS Forth Valley 


 Dr Stuart Scott
 NHS Grampian


 Dr Malcolm Gordon
 NHS Greater Glasgow


 Dr James Docherty
 NHS Highland


 Dr Bill Martin
 NHS Lanarkshire


 Val Baker 
 NHS Lothian


 Dr Marion Bain
 NHS NSS


 Dr Brian Robson
 NHS NSS


 Dr Peter Baxter
 NHS Orkney


 Dr Ken Graham
 NHS Shetland


 Dr Cliff Barthram
 NHS Tayside


 Dr Andrew Sim
 NHS Western Isles


 Elaine Heslop
 Interim Head of Change and Benefits, eHealth, SGHD


 Heather Strachan
 NMAHP lead, eHealth, SGHD


 Vacancy
 eHealth clinical lead, SGHD

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in the development of a (a) national health information helpline and (b) single shared health information online resource, as stated on page 44 of Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan .

Nicola Sturgeon: A Steering Group involving key stakeholders has been established, and key tasks and main routes for accessing information have been identified. This will ensure that the commitment for the delivery of a National Health Information and Support Service by April 2009 is met.

  A conference in partnership with the Scottish Health Council and the UK Patient Information Forum (PiF) is being planned to further develop this work. The conference will also provide an opportunity to measure progress against this commitment.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what health checks are given to children from birth to five years of age.

Shona Robison: The routine health checks which children from birth to five years of age receive is set out in the Health for All Children (Hall 4) Guidance .

  The guidance recommends that all children should have contact with health professionals within the first 24 hours for a full physical health check; within the first 10 days of life for a blood spot test for particular illnesses and a general check to ensure there is no cause for concern; within the first 28 days of life for a hearing test; at six to eight weeks for a full physical health and development check, including weight; at two, three and four months for immunisation and to check weight; at 12 months for immunisation; at 13 months for immunisation and to check weight; between the ages of three to five years for immunisation and to check weight; between four and five years for an eye sight test, usually at pre-school, and between the ages of four to six, usually in school year primary 1, for a full physical health check including height, weight and dental check.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are registered with a GP in each NHS board area.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following information is at 1 April 2008.

  

 NHS Board
 Registered Population


 Ayrshire and Arran
 387,573


 Borders
 115,216


 Dumfries and Galloway 
 154,909


 Fife
 370,578


 Forth Valley
 305,488


 Grampian
 564,015


 Greater Glasgow and Clyde
 1,302,158


 Highland
 320,314


 Lanarkshire
 588,046


 Lothian
 858,857


 Orkney
 20,298


 Shetland
 22,171


 Tayside
 413,980


 Western Isles
 27,589


 Total
 5,451,192

Immigration

Bashir Ahmad (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with UK Ministers regarding the new points-based immigration system.

Linda Fabiani: The Scottish Government have made a range of representations to UK ministers, which have included discussions about the new points-based system, including how it will impact on Scotland and Scottish interests, and how we can get the best deal for Scotland from the new system.

  Representations have been supported by meetings, exchanges and correspondence at both ministerial and official level. Scottish ministers have been in correspondence with Home Office ministers about the scope for Scottish flexibilities within the system; a reduced qualifying period for settlement in Scotland; the criteria for Tier One - Post Study (the successor to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme), including retaining Scottish HNDs as an eligible qualification; Scottish representation on the migration advisory committee and the migration impacts forum; and the potential impact on Scotland’s cultural festivals and sports events, the Asian restaurant trade and Japanese investment (as a result of the English language requirement).

  Other representations have been made to the Home Office on immigration rules and legislation including; skilled migrants, migrants and citizenship, asylum seekers and the rights of children, academic visitors to Scotland and policing issues.

Justice

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive given that the Scottish Prison Service has released full details of its existing contract with Reliance for the transfer of adult prisoners, whether the Scottish Government will release full details of Reliance’s new contract for escorting children to and from court.

Kenny MacAskill: Yes. The contract is on the Scottish Government’s website.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, psychological therapists and nurses will be recruited in order to increase access to talking therapies, whilst reducing prescribing of anti-depressants.

Nicola Sturgeon: The government is building on the programme "Doing Well by People with Depression" which saw an investment of £4.5 million over a three year period between 2003-06.

  The planning, recruitment and deployment of staff to meet service need is a matter for health boards locally to agree. All health boards are undertaking work to look at current capacity to deliver evidence based psychological therapies. Work is also being done nationally to support the growth in therapeutic interventions that may be available, such as the pilot with NHS 24 on telephone based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and the roll out of "Living Life to the Full" materials.

  In addition, work has been commissioned to look at the evidence base for psychological therapies in relation to different conditions and patient groups and health boards will use this in taking forward future planning around this agenda.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to increase the number of cognitive behavioural therapists.

Nicola Sturgeon: Work is being undertaken through NHS Education for Scotland (NES) on cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), family therapy and child psychotherapy as well as psychodynamic psychotherapy. NES has funded an additional 20 supervisor posts, plus 0.5 whole-time equivalent staff in each NHS board, to create capacity and support supervision and training. South east of Scotland and Tayside CBT programmes have increased the number of those in training by 50 this year.

  At an individual NHS board level work is underway to scope out the capacity of staff who have been trained in a range of psychological therapies in order to match demand with capacity and meet patient need better and more effectively. In addition, work has been commissioned to look at the evidence base for psychological therapies in relation to different conditions and patient groups to assist NHS boards in their planning.

NHS 24

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in establishing a local NHS24 service in every mainland NHS board area, as stated on page 71 of Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan .

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS 24 is committed to a local presence in each NHS board area, as outlined at their Annual Review in August 2007. Discussions are progressing with NHS board partners about a number of initiatives on the further development of locally integrated services.

NHS Hospitals

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the New Southern Hospital in Glasgow will be procured using the Scottish Futures Trust.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-12137 on 22 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many mental health nurse training places have been provided in each of the last five years.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is in the following table.

  Nursing and Midwifery - Student Intakes

  

 Intakes1
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Mental Health
 486
 567
 575
 542
 522



  Source: NHS Education for Scotland Annual Statistical Supplement.

  Data for nursing and midwifery student intakes can be found at Table 11 http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Student%20intakes%20and%20students %20in%20training.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  Note: 1 Intakes of student nurses and midwives commencing in that financial year.

  The numbers of student mental health nurse training places is reflective of boards workforce planning and demand projections to meet service need.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many mental health training places are planned for recruitment in 2008.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is responsible for determining supply training numbers for centrally controlled NHS staff groups including medical, dental, and nursing and midwifery numbers.

  The student intake numbers for mental health nursing have been agreed at 366 for 2008-09. This is a reduction of 156 on the 2006-07 intakes to reflect uptake of the places and improve the quality of the student experience to reduce attrition.

  Overall medical specialty training places in mental health increased by 32 places, from 268 in 2007 to 300 for 2008.

  A range of other training is available which will allow people to work in the field of mental health, such as cognitive behaviour therapy, family therapy and child psychotherapy.

  Work is being taken forward at individual board level to scope out the capacity of staff who have been trained in a range of psychological therapies to match demand with capacity and meet patient need.

NHS Staff

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-11190 by Nicola Sturgeon on 14 April 2008, how much additional finance NHS Tayside has been given to administer the community health nurse pilot in 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon: Additional finance to support transitional education for the community health nurse pilot will be provided to NHS Tayside in 2008-09 when their training plan has been received.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the work of the Post Graduate Medical Training Board in respect of promoted posts for trainee doctors.

Nicola Sturgeon: No. The Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) is the independent UK statutory body responsible for overseeing and promoting the standards of postgraduate medical education and training for all specialities. The role of PMETB is to prospectively approve specialty training programmes and to ensure their delivery through postgraduate deans is to agreed national standards. Operational responsibility for ensuring the delivery of these same standards in Scotland lies with NHS Education for Scotland (NES).

  As indicated in the Scottish Government’s consultation document on Professor Sir John Tooke’s report into Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) Aspiring To Excellence dated 8 January 2008, it is proposed that PMETB will merge with the General Medical Council (GMC). Similarly, the consultation document also confirmed that NES is planning an internal review of their Medical Directorate, particularly around roles and responsibilities within/across Deaneries to meet PMETB standards, and a project board has been established and work streams are being developed to be rolled out throughout 2008.

Prescription Charges

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to change or review the regulations on applications for refunds of the costs of prescription pre-payment certificates, in light of the recent reduction in prescription charges.

Shona Robison: In the light of the reduction of prescription charges on 1 April 2008, we have introduced new arrangements for partial refunds of Prescription Pre-payment Certificates (PPCs). The National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) (Scotland) Regulations 2008 sets out the conditions under which PPC holders may be entitled to claim for a partial refund, following the reductions in prescription charges. Partial refunds are available to certificate holders who bought a PPC before 1 April, and whose certificate remains valid for at least one complete month following that date.

  The same regulations also set out the conditions under which a refund may be available on certain other grounds, for example if a certificate holder becomes entitled to free prescriptions on age or health grounds.

  The regulations will require to be amended in 2011 when prescription charges are abolished.

Prison Service

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3M-11613 by Kenny MacAskill on 16 April 2008, whether it will now seek the views of the Scottish Prison Comission on the review of community penalties.

Kenny MacAskill: The Prisons Commission has been set up to look specifically at the purpose of prison. However, the Scottish Government will of course give careful consideration to any views on community penalties that the Prisons Commission may express in its final report. Meantime, work is underway in taking forward the findings of the report of the Review of Community Penalties published last November.